Chapter 146

Why not just blow it up instantly?

107, when a tiger gives birth to three cubs, one must be fierce.

Just as Su Qiao was racking his brains to figure out how to reach the wine jar from the neighboring cell to his feet.

He completely failed to notice a sound of footsteps rising at the main gate of the Imperial Prison.

Before long, Jiang Huan arrived before Su Qiao's cell carrying an entire roast duck wrapped in lotus leaves.

Looking at Su Qiao, who was straining to reach toward the neighboring cell.

The two of them inevitably fell silent at the same time.

Jiang Huan coughed awkwardly twice.

Seeing that Su Qiao so desperately wanted to reach the wine jar next door, he also understood and walked over to the neighboring cell.

He opened the cell door for Su Qiao.

He fetched two jars of wine from next door and placed them before Su Qiao.

After that, Jiang Huan did not say another single word.

He immediately stood up and left Su Qiao's cell.

Looking at the roast duck and the wrapped dipping sauce before him.

Su Qiao nearly laughed out loud.

……

……

Shengjing, Liaodong.

Over the past month.

Huang Taiji's blood pressure has climbed to a new height every single day.

In just a few months.

The Great Ming army, gathered in the region of Shanhai Pass, Ningyuan, and Jinzhou, has already reached a number close to two hundred thousand!

Moreover, Huang Taiji can clearly feel it.

These Great Ming soldiers are absolutely not the old veterans from Liaodong who charged when the wind was favorable and fled when it was against them.

In other words.

These people had no expectation of returning alive.

They came to Liaodong with only one purpose.

To kill one and break even.

To kill two and make a profit.

The entire Great Qing has fallen into a deathly silence.

Nowadays, in Shengjing, aside from Huang Taiji's Plain Yellow Banner and Bordered Yellow Banner, only the Han Eight Banners remain.

Since the Great Ming's massive army pressing at the border.

These Han Eight Banners have long ceased to look down upon the sons of the Eight Banners.

In the past, when the Han Eight Banners met the sons of the Eight Banners, they served them with a "Master" on their lips for every single word.

Now, they not only do not look down upon the Manchus.

They even dare to speak openly about defecting to the Great Ming at the slightest slight.

All of this.

Huang Taiji sees with his own eyes.

But Huang Taiji has no way to restrain the Han army anymore.

Because to restrain the Han army, one must first recall the soldiers of the other six banners that have already withdrawn.

If the Great Ming launches an attack now.

Forget about the Jianzhou Jurchens.

Even the Haili Jurchens would end up perishing together in Shengjing.

By then, Huang Taiji would truly become the criminal responsible for the extermination of the Jurchens.

Huang Taiji sat on the dragon throne in near despair, sighing with exhaustion of heart and mind.

"Mr. Fan, I no longer hope to save the Great Qing; I only hope Mr. can devise a strategy to protect my people."

Ever since the battle of Cao Bianjiao.

Huang Taiji has provoked several times.

The Great Ming army has simply buried their heads in the ground, refusing to engage in battle.

After all, the court has plenty of grain to feed them.

The current grain supplies are even transported directly by sea.

Not only has the cost of transporting grain been greatly reduced.

Even the losses from spoilage and theft have been cut to the extreme.

Who dares to reach out for grain in Liaodong?

That would be a traitor made of iron; without even needing Zhu Youjian to issue an edict, the spittle of court officials and censors would be enough to drown you!

But this scene looks somewhat desperate to Huang Taiji.

Watching as Zhu Youjian dismantles the mines buried within the Great Ming one by one.

Taking over the Central Plains has become an impossibility; even the Mongol Eight Banners have voluntarily requested to withdraw and station themselves north of Sarhu.

They say they are stationed for defense.

But north of Sarhu lies the pastureland of the Khalkha tribe; at the slightest stir of wind or movement, these Mongol Eight Banners will likely run even faster than the Han Eight Banners!

Fan Wencheng let out a long sigh.

Gazing at Huang Taiji, he said in a low voice,

"Your Majesty, at this point we can only think of some decent methods."

"Mr. Fan, please speak plainly."

Fan Wencheng looked at the map beside Huang Taiji and said wistfully,

"Build a city!"

Huang Taiji's brows knit tightly.

"Build a city?"

Fan Wencheng nodded slightly and said,

"Precisely, build a city."

A hint of displeasure inevitably surfaced on Huang Taiji's face.

"But if so, wouldn't my Eight Banners soldiers all be trapped and starved to death inside the city?"

"Moreover, my Eight Banners soldiers excel at open-field battle but are weak at siege assault. To do so, wouldn't we be attacking the enemy's strength with our own weakness?"

To tell the truth.

The moment these words left Fan Wencheng's mouth, even Huang Taiji began to wonder what sort of fellow Fan Wencheng really was.

If all the Eight Banners soldiers were trapped in the city, there was a real chance the Great Ming could wipe them all out in one swoop.

Fan Wencheng, however, shook his head and sighed,

"Your Majesty, our Great Qing is not like the former Yuan."

"In the days of the former Yuan, Emperor Shun of Yuan still had the grasslands to retreat to."

"Now Liaodong is nothing but barren wasteland. Even if Your Majesty harbors thoughts of fleeing far, there is nowhere left to flee to!"

Huang Taiji furrowed his brow slightly as he looked at Fan Wencheng and asked,

"Then what is the purpose of your teaching me to build a city, Mr.?"

At this point, Fan Wencheng's brows were tightly knit.

Gritting his teeth, he whispered,

"Only by building a city can our Great Qing soldiers hold their ground behind its walls and inflict maximum casualties on the Ming army!"

"If the Eight Banners and their descendants wish to one day roam freely between the White Mountains and Black Waters as before, there is only one strategy."

"And that is to render the Great Ming incapable of invading."

"Sallies for open-field battle—even if my Eight Banners soldiers had three heads and six arms—would at best only rout the Ming army."

"Now within the passes, there is no one who does not regard our Great Qing as a thorn in their eye, a splinter in their flesh. Troops like these, even if routed a thousand times, ten thousand times, would be useless!"